After succeeding in retrieving Sasuke, Naruto was banished from Konoha due to the Council's fear of the Akatsuki coming after him and destroying Konoha. 10 years later after being banished Naruto becomes the new Raikage of Kumo and leads it to greatness.

The retrieval team that went after the traitor Uchiha Sasuke returned with success. Of the six that were originally sent out to retrieve the Uchiha, four were critically injured, one was badly injured, but was not in any serious danger, and the remaining member had only a broken finger. Despite the various injuries they suffered they were all healing amazingly well without any lasting damage, thanks to the brilliant medical skills of the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade (The Slug Queen).

-Konoha Hospital-

It had been several days since Team Shikamaru had returned from their successful S Class retrieval mission. Uchiha Sasuke now lay in a hospital bed, strapped down with his chakra temporarily sealed off, along with his Sharingan. His curse seal was personally sealed by Jiraiya making it near impossible for the Uchiha to use it. There were also ANBU guards stationed outside the door and outside the window on Tsunade's orders. Uchiha Sasuke couldn't do anything other but stare at the ceiling.

A member of his team entered his hospital room with a large grin on his face. In response Sasuke turned and glared. He glared at the person who stopped him from obtaining power, the power he needed to avenge his Clan, to kill his brother; that person being none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto sighed at the glare and looked at him. He had hoped that his teammate would come to his senses and realize what Orochimaru's true intentions were. Unfortunately, revenge makes you blind.

"Are you all right Sasuke? How are you feeling?" Naruto asked.

"What do you think?" Sasuke growled.

"Well, I did say that I was going to break your arms and legs and drag you back to the village if I had to" Naruto joked.

Sasuke struggled and thrashed on the bed, trying to get free from his bonds as he jerked forward.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY DOBE? DO YOU? LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO ME! MY CHAKRA, THE CURSE SEAL AND MY SHARINGAN ARE ALL SEALED OFF AND I'M STRAPPED TO THIS FUCKING BED!" Sasuke roared.

"I told you that I wasn't gonna let you go to Orochimaru," answered Naruto. "I'm trying to protect you from him and I was trying to save you from yourself. Do you really think that he would've given you the power to kill your brother without a price? Think about it teme."

"If I wasn't strapped to this fucking bed I'd kill you right now" Sasuke sneered.

"What?" asked a surprised Naruto.

"I'll kill you. If I ever see you again Dope, I'll kill you." snarled Sasuke.

"Damn it Sasuke, I'm trying to help you!" Naruto shouted.

"I don't need your help. I don't need Konoha. I don't need anything except the power to kill my brother. That's all I care about. You dare to lecture me! I'm an avenger and you will always be a DOBE!" Sasuke spat venomously. "You'll never understand how I feel, you were born with nothing! No parents, no family, no Clan... I had all that and then it was taken away from me by the person I admired most in the world, the person I wanted to be like and surpass more than anything, my own fucking brother! So don't you dare think you can understand me, or how I feel, because you'll never be able to even comprehend what it's like to have everything you cherish ripped away from you. Because you dope, never had anything to begin with, I don't want you, or anyone else's help. Now get out of my sight!" Sasuke roared.

Naruto just sighed and left the room.

-The Next Day-

Naruto stood at team seven's meeting spot waiting for Sakura. Soon, enough she came into view. Thinking that she was going to thank him for bringing Sasuke back, he put on his trademark grin and walked to greet her.

"Hey Sakur…" was as far as he got before she lashed out at him with a left hook, straight to the side of his face. His head reeled back as an expression of shock contorted his features. A shaking hand reached to hold his stinging cheek.

"How could you do that to Sasuke-kun?" She screeched "I asked you to bring him back and what do you do? You almost kill him!" She yelled, breathing heavily, glaring daggers into his eyes. "It's a miracle that he's still able to recover for active duty after what you did! I thought you were his friend." Sakura proceeded to punch and kick him for ten minutes before her rage ran its course. Naruto, being Naruto, sat there and took it. Never once raising his fists to defend himself or strike back.

Sakura looked down on him and spat at him. "I hate you, Uzumaki Naruto. You're nothing but a monster. I don't ever want to see you again." she turned and stomped away. If she'd stayed any longer, she would have heard his heart breaking and seen the tears fall from his eyes.

-A few hours later in Konoha Council Room-

Naruto had been summoned to the council chambers.

"You wished to speak to me?" Naruto said in a dead, miserable tone.

This caught several people in the Council off guard, especially Tsunade. This was not like the usual loud, hyperactive young ninja, who always wore a smile no matter what happened.

"What's wrong with Naruto? He's not himself, something must have happened. I'll have to ask when we're done here." thought Tsunade.

Elder Council member Mitokado Homura answered Naruto. "Yes, we summoned you here" he said. "The Council has finished reading the reports that were given to us by you and your teammates, the Suna team, as well as Rock Lee and your sensei, Hatake Kakashi's report."

"Although we're pleased that a mission of this level was successfully completed by a freshly ordained Chunin and a team of four Genin, we have some concerns regarding the reports on the battle between you and your teammate Uchiha Sasuke." He continued, peering at Naruto over the rim of his glasses.

"What concerns?" asked Naruto, where a sick, cold feeling wormed its way into his gut.

"What has us concerned is the fact that you used a large amount of the Kyuubi's chakra in your battle, and caused a great deal of destruction to the Valley of the End" replied Elder Council member Utatane Koharu.

"I had no choice! Sasuke was using the power of the curse seal, and in order to hold him back, and subdue him, I needed to access the Kyuubi's chakra. Plus, I was only trying to capture him while he was trying to kill me, which, I can prove right now." Naruto lifted up his shirt and showed the Council the scars from the two Chidori (One Thousand Birds)that Sasuke had rammed through his chest, one being very close to his heart.

Several of the assembled Clan Heads, namely Akimichi Choza, Nara Shikaku and Inuzuka Tsume, could not help but feel for the boy since all their sons had been on that team. One of them had been critically wounded, like Naruto, and many others were severely hurt.

"While that is acceptable, Uzumaki, we still have our concerns, namely the words of your own report, specifically when you were calling on the Kyuubi's chakra, you stated that you were feeling a great deal of anger and rage. You also mentioned that the Kyuubi's chakra served to intensify your anger, which, according to the reports, led to Uchiha Sasuke's current condition" said the old one-eyed Elder Danzo Shimura.

"We're aware that this isn't the first time you were on the verge of losing control of yourself when using the Kyuubi's chakra. The reports from Team seven's mission to Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) mentioned your struggles against a Hyōton (Ice Release) user, partner of A rank missing ninja Momochi Zabuza, in which as stated by your sensei Hatake Kakashi you released a large amount of the Kyuubi's chakra and nearly lost control. However, you managed to regain control in the end before you could do any harm to your teammates and your sensei. This time, however, you were unable to stop yourself before severally injuring Uchiha Sasuke, which is the reason for this meeting." Danzo finished, studying the young blonde intently with his eye.

"Now hold on just a minute!" Tsunade broke in, slamming her fists on the table. "You're not going to try and pin any of the trouble that has been caused by the Uchiha on Naruto! He may have used the Kyuubi's chakra but he clearly has it under control, as he demonstrated in Chunin exams, where he defeated Hyuga Neji without causing him any undue harm. His apprenticeship to my teammate Jiraiya should be more than enough to abate any fears or concerns" shouted Tsunade.

"With all due respect, Jiraiya's training with the container has not given us the desired results. Clearly the boy's emotions are linked to his ability to call upon the demon's power, and since he is unable to control his emotions, he cannot control a powerful enough amount of demonic Chakra without losing control of his actions. The Uchiha's injuries are proof enough to attest to this. Consider this," Danzo said, "The container has repeatedly mentioned that he sees Sasuke as his closest friend. If, in his lack of control, he damaged his 'friend' this much, what does that say about the damage he could deal to a Konoha shinobi with whom he has no connection, should he once again lose control? I've to say this would not have happened if Sarutobi had not disbanded my ROOT division or if he'd given me the chance to raise and train the boy properly", he finished.

"If sensei had allowed that, Naruto would have been nothing more than your personal puppet!" Tsunade snarled.

"I wanted nothing more than to train the container to become the perfect weapon for Konoha, and despite what you think of me, I always have the best interest of Konoha at heart." stated Danzo calmly.

"More like your own interests, if you ask me." Tsume growled out. She had never liked the old war hawk; he treated shinobi like disposable tools and wouldn't hesitate to send anyone on a suicide mission or abandon them if it suited his own needs. It was a fact that disgusted Tsume since her Clan valued comradeship above all else.

Danzo narrowed his eye at Tsume, but said nothing.

"Tsunade, we must also consider the threat of the organization that Jiraiya reported to us, the Akatsuki, which is made up of nine S class missing-nins. One of the members being Uchiha Itachi, and a former member being your former teammate Orochimaru" Koharu stated, watching Tsunade.

"We are at a great disadvantage against them. We've little to no information with regards to their goals, besides the fact that they are after the Biju, not to mention our own current state of weakness from the invasion of Suna and Oto. They can easily attack us again to obtain the Kyuubi container, just as they attempted last time with Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame when they infiltrated the village. But this time all nine members may attack the village, and we would most likely be destroyed in the resulting battle. That is why I believe we should eliminate that threat to the village right here, and now." said Koharu, eyeing Naruto as she concluded her speech.

"And you propose to do this…how?" drawled Shikaku, not liking the direction things were going.

"Simple. As I said the Akatsuki want the Bijū and they'll stop at nothing until they've obtained them all. Therefore, as long as we have the Kyuubi, we are in danger. What I suggest is we banish the container so that Konoha itself will no longer be a target" Koharu responded.

"NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO BANISH ONE OF OUR MOST LOYAL SHINOBI SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU'RE AFRAID TO FIGHT THE AKATSUKI! YOU CAN'T DO THIS, AS HOKAGE, I FORBID IT!" roared Tsunade.

When Naruto heard Koharu's plan he felt like his heart was going to stop. He met her once or twice when he was younger, visiting the old man. While the man named Homura treated him nicely enough, the woman Koharu treated him like the plague. Her tolerance of his existence was just barely present, and he'd received many a glare from her, for his pranks, or his casual way of referring to the Sandaime as 'jiji'. But when Tsunade started to shout that she would not allow them to banish him, hope started to rise in Naruto. He knew Tsunade as the Hokage would have final say and she would never banish him.

But when a small evil smirk appeared on Koharu's wrinkled old face, that hope shattered.

"I'm afraid you're wrong Tsunade. We can do this…you see, in the village charter recorded by your Grandfather the Shodaime Hokage, it is stated that when there is a situation that threatens the safety of the village and the Hokage is unwilling, or incapable of dealing with it, then the village Council may overrule the Hokage on the decisions on how to deal with the situation, so long as the majority of the Council is in favour of it" said Koharu, still maintaining her smirk.

"WHAT!" Tsunade roared in disbelief.

"Wait! Even if we banish the boy all we're doing is handing him to the Akatsuki. This plan if it can be called that will not eliminate the threat that the Akatsuki poses. All this will do, give them more power and further aid their goals, making them an even bigger threat than they are now. I also disagree, both fundamentally and professionally, with your blasé treatment of Naruto. To just throw a young ninja of our village to the wolves in this manner, in spite of all that he has accomplished, is an insult and is against everything Konoha stands for." declared Chouza, in righteous anger.

Tsunade and Naruto both smiled, glad that they had some support, and happy that at least someone else could see reason.

"THAT IS NO BOY! HE IS A DEMON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE!" shouted out Ashikaga Shin, head of the merchant guild in Konoha.

He had lost his only daughter, a young kunoichi, his pride and joy, on the night of the Kyuubi attack and held a great deal of hatred for Naruto. Shin's bias against Naruto prompted him to have Naruto banned from the majority of shops and restaurants that served the village, or in lieu of outright banning him, the merchants only gave him the worst things they had and even overcharged him for them. The only businesses that weren't like this were Ichiraku Ramen and Mikumo Ninja Gears and Weapons store.

Additionally, Mikumo Tenshin's (the owner of Mikumo Ninja Gear and Weapons store) reputation as the finest weapons maker in the village, made him untouchable regardless of his membership in the Merchant's Guild. Also the most he could do to Ichiraku Teuchi was to not allow him to have a site or section to build a Ramen restaurant in the village, which didn't hurt the man much. Plus, although Ashikaga Shin would never say it to anyone, he was actually intimated by the old Ramen chief, ever since an incident when he had spoken badly about the 'Kyuubi-brat in front of him. He had received a broken jaw for his troubles.

"You lot are all fools. If we listen to you then we'll be giving the most powerful and destructive force that we know to a bunch of criminals and I don't think what those criminals have in plan for the Bijū's will be for the benefit of Konoha or any other village and country in the bloody Elemental continent!" said Ino's father Inoichi.

"Do not worry about handing over the power of the Kyuubi to the Akatsuki Yamanaka-san. Both Danzo and I have taken into consideration that the container would very much likely be captured by them, which is why we've a plan that'll activate once we banish the container, and eliminate the threat of the Akatsuki at the same time." said Koharu.

"And what exactly is this great plan of yours that will eliminate nine S class criminals in one go?" Tsunade snarled out.

"I'm sorry Tsunade, but considering how sensitive this plan is and how vital it is to the village's security, we cannot tell you now. And due to your relationship with the container, we'll inform you and the rest of the Council once we feel the time is right," said Danzo with a barely seen smirk.

All Tsunade could do was growl and glare at the old war hawk, seething with suppressed rage and an overwhelming urge to rob Danzo of his remaining eye and limbs.

"I now propose that we cast a vote to decide the container's fate" stated Koharu.

Ashikaga Shin- "I vote yes. Let's get rid of the demon".

Inuzuka Tsume- "I vote no. The boy shouldn't be treated like this! As the Hokage has said, he IS a loyal shinobi to this village and doesn't deserve to be banished! I've known him since he was a young pup and he often played with my own son when they were younger".

Hojo Akira (a civilian politician who went wherever the civilian people went as long as it kept him in his comfortable position) - "I vote yes. This village will be much better off without him causing us trouble".

Nara Shikaku- "Not only is this meeting troublesome, but it is also stupid. This vote is stupid.You guys, who are for banishing him, are stupid. So I vote no".

Akimichi Chouza - "Like Tsume's son Kiba, my son Choji has known Naruto since childhood. He was even one of Choji's first friends. And if I vote yes I will never be able to face my son. Plus, he is the only person that can eat more Ramen than me or Choji. My vote, is no" Chouza said with a slight chuckle.

Yamanaka Inoichi - "Quite frankly I'm against this entire thing. I've seen what that boy goes through in the village from his memories in his mind, when I did his mental stability test. To be perfectly honest, if he does decide to destroy this village then we deserve every bit of what we get. Contrary to YOUR belief, his mind is a hell of a lot more stable and more controlled than that Uchiha. I vote no."

Utatane Koharu- "You all know my reasons so I need not say them. I vote yes."

Danzo- "My reasons are the same as Koharu-san. I vote yes."

Sarutobi Asuma- "I often saw the kid with my old man and I know he considered him a grandson in all but blood. If he saw this right now, he would be disgusted. I bet he's even turning over his grave right now. Also, the boy is good friends with my nephew and he will never forgive me if I was for Naruto's banishment. Plus he is also friends with your grandchildren, Koharu and Homura. So I vote no".

Asai Heita- (One of the wealthiest men in Konoha who had lost a great deal of his wealth when his family home and been destroyed by the Kyuubi financial) - "I vote yes, and I'll be more than happy to kick it out myself".

Aburame Shibi– "Although some of the things that Koharu-san has said are logically sound, it would be illogical to simply banish the boy and indirectly hand him over to the Akatsuki without knowing what the plan is. And might I mention, we of the Aburame Clan also know what it is liked to be judged simply because of what we carry inside us. So I vote no".

Kurama Unkai - "Although I'm sympathetic to the boy's situation and hold no hatred for what he carries inside him, since he cannot be held responsible for being unable to control the demon inside his body much like my niece Yakumo, it still does not change the fact that he is still a danger to our village. I vote yes".

Senju Tsunade (Hokage) - "I vote no. I will not allow you to banish this boy just because of your idiotic hate".

Mitokado Homura - "Although I hold no hatred for young Naruto, some of the things that Danzo and Koharu have mentioned cannot be ignored, and as much as it pains me to say this, I must vote yes."

When Homura sat down he looked at the young boy who stared back at him with hurt and betrayal on his face, filling Homura with guilt.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I am merely doing what I think is best for the village .Although something tells me I am making a great mistake. Udon will probably never forgive me for banishing Naruto", Homura thought sadly.

ANBU Commander - "There is truth in what Danzo-san and Koharu-san said with regards Akatsuki coming back to Konoha to capture Uzumaki Naruto. However, like Aburame-san I cannot agree with banishing him and leaving him helpless against the Akatsuki, not without any knowledge of the plan to deal with them. This boy has proven himself to the village enough times and more, even in the exams, he helped save the village by defeating the Jinchūriki Gaara. I vote no."

Amako Taichi (Taichi was a wealthy businessman that had earned a great deal of wealth from selling various foods and herbs in and out of Konoha and the Fire country. He lost crops/herbs, land and wealth during the Kyuubi attack. He also lost his elder brother who had been a Jonin at the time.) - "I vote yes. The sooner we get rid of him the better."

Naruto had been counting the votes and it was tie, eight for banishment eight against it. Now, there was only one person left to vote: Hyūga Hiashi, Hinata's father and head of the Hyūga Clan.

For the next few minutes Hiashi remained silent as he mulled over his decision, all the while though, Naruto waited breathlessly for Hiashi to decide his fate, since his vote would be the breaker.

Hyūga Hiashi - "I vote yes to banishing Uzumaki Naruto from Konoha."

At this Naruto hit the ground and slumped over. His world had been shattered, everything was gone now. He would never be an accomplished ninja, never be Hokage, and never see his friends again.

Tsunade had tears in her eyes but she would not cry. She wouldn't give these bastards the satisfaction of seeing her break. But she wasn't the only person who was angered and saddened by this. Most of those who were against his banishment were angry as well.

Tsume, livid, was glaring furiously at Hiashi while her partner Kuromaru growled at the man.

Hiashi, for the most part ignored Tsume and her dog. "Although I hold no hatred for the boy, I do think it is better that he leave. In our current condition the village can't afford to have an enemy like the Akatsuki. With him gone we can rebuild the village and our forces and deal with the Akatsuki when we're ready. Perhaps with him gone Hinata will finally give up her silly little crush over the boy and start training more and become stronger like a true Hyūga heiress should be. If not, I've no choice, but to put her in the Branch Clan and have Hanabi be the new heiress", thought Hiashi.

The ANBU Commander and Aburame Shibi just sadly shook their heads, knowing that this was a mistake that will one day come back to bite them.

Chouza just sighed sadly knowing his son would be greatly affected by this.

Shikaku just thought, "Troublesome idiots".

The civilian members of the council were laughing away at how they final got rid of the demon brat.

Danzo, Koharu and Unkai did not join the fools and just kept their face neutral.

Homura and Inoichi just lowered their heads sadly since they knew this was wrong.

Asuma just sighed and looked out the window. He saw that it was raining again like the funeral for his father and the other ninja's who died during the invasion by Suna and Oto. "It seems that once again the heavens are weeping. This time it's weeping at the foolishness of this village... or maybe it is you father, and Minato who are weeping from the heavens at what we've allowed happen", thought Asuma.

"ANBU! Take the Kyuubi container to have his chakra sealed! And have Danzo's new cursed seal placed on him so that he can't tell anyone our secrets or techniques!" ordered Koharu. At this, the ANBU who appeared next to Naruto disappeared with him.

- Two days later in Naruto's apartment-

It was night-time in Konoha. Naruto had just finishing packing up his few meager belongings so he would be ready to leave tomorrow. His throat still hurt from the seal that was put on him to prevent him from talking about Konoha to people outside the village.

His friends had just left his apartment an hour ago to say good-bye, along with a few others. Thankfully Tsunade had been able to forbid anyone in the Council from mentioning that he was banished to the civilians and most of the ninja population until he had left. She didn't want people lining up to throw things at him and jeer as he left. The only reason why his friends knew what was happening was because Tsunade had allowed the parents of Naruto's friends to tell them so that they could say goodbye.

Gai and Lee had been shouting out about the un-youthfulness of the Konoha Council, swearing that they were now going to work twice as hard, so that their own flames of youth would not be dampened. Lee had made Naruto his eternal rival and vowed on his flames of youth, that he would one day help to bring Naruto back to Konoha, and if not he would run all the way to Suna and back again one hundred times.

Naruto could not help but laugh at Lee's vow. He was grateful to have a friend like him. Though Lee may have been weird guy he was a loyal to a fault and he knew he could count on when he needed him. He and Lee were a lot alike; both were orphans, both were weird in their own way, both never gave up no matter how hard it got for them, both were dead lasts in their class and both had a dream they wanted to achieve.

"Lee I want you to do me a favour," Naruto began.

"Anything for you Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Lee.

"I want you to promise me that you'll accomplish your dream, and prove that the dead last can become a great ninja, no matter what!" Naruto proclaimed.

"Yosh! Your flames of youth still shine brightly!" Lee cried, "And I will become a great ninja! It's a promise of a lifetime!"

Afterwards Neji came and gave his condolences over what had happened. He even said that all the respect he had gained for his Uncle recently was now gone. He wished Naruto luck, and also told Naruto that Hinata had been forbidden to say goodbye to Naruto by her father. Naruto of course understood and could not help but feel sympathetic for Hinata, for being cursed with a cold-hearted bastard like Hiashi as her father.

TenTen came as well, and told him how enraged she and her parents were when they heard that Naruto was being banished for some 'unknown reason'. Naruto had been going to her family store for years, since her parents, unlike most people of Konoha, treated Naruto like a person. They even gave him discounts for weapons and gear when he was short of money, which was quite often. TenTen also gave Naruto a set of silver kunai as a parting gift, and said that they would miss him very much, leaving Naruto truly touched by TenTen and her parents' kindness.

Kurenai also came to give Naruto her sympathy and a bento box from Hinata that she made herself. Naruto thanked Kurenai and told her to thank Hinata for him.

When Kiba arrived with the others he began to rant and rave about the stupidity of the Council. He even told Naruto that his mom still hadn't stopped swearing, which made Naruto laugh.

Shino gave his condolences over the banishment. Naruto noted that every time someone mentioned Konoha's Council, Shino's left eyebrow started to twitch in annoyance.

Shikamaru, Asuma and Choji also arrived together along with Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon to say goodbye.

Konohamaru was fairly torn up over Naruto's banishment. Naruto gave him his leaf headband saying that he can have it as a keepsake from him. Konohamaru tearfully took it and promised to keep it safe. Naruto also told him to make sure to wear it when he becomes Hokage, so that in some small way they both become Hokage.

Konohamaru also promised that he would prank the hell out of Konoha for this, especially the ones who had Naruto banished from the village. Naruto just chuckled and said, "Give them hell Konohamaru".

Konohamaru also vowed that when he was Hokage, he will disband the Council and bring him back to Konoha, which made Naruto laugh again and tell him he better hurry up and become Hokage then.

Both Udon and Moegi, tearfully hugged Naruto saying that they were sorry for their grandparents stupidity. Naruto just smiled and said that they had nothing to be sorry about.

Shikamaru wished Naruto luck and told him to try to not get into too many troublesome situations. Naruto only smirked at him and said he would do his best.

Choji gave Naruto a pie from his mom. Naruto thanked Choji and told him to thank his mom for him. Naruto had met Choji's mother once or twice and found her to be a very kind woman. Not to mention she was an excellent cook from the one or two meals he had with the family along with Kiba and Shikamaru.

Asuma expressed his sorrow that he couldn't prevent the Council from banishing him. Naruto thanked Asuma and told him he was grateful for his help even if he didn't succeed.

Teuchi and Ayame both arrived incensed. Teuchi swore that if he ever saw that bastard Ashikaga Shin again he would do more that break his jaw. Ayame gave Naruto a kiss on the head (much to his embarrassment) and told him to take care of himself. They also gave him a few instant Ramen cups and gave him a large, hot bowl of ramen as his last meal in the village.

When Iruka arrived a few minutes after the others, saying he had been pissed would have been the understatement of the century. He was beyond furious belief and began ranting on about the idiocy of the Council. He was tempted to go to the next Council meeting and give them a piece of his mind. It was funny to imagine Iruka using his Scary Big Head jutsu on the Council members. Iruka told Naruto that he would miss him, and told him to take care of himself, and gave Naruto a fatherly hug.

The only ones that had not come to say good-bye to Naruto were Ino, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi. Asuma told him that Ino had gone off to take care of the poor hurt Uchiha. Everyone already knew Sakura was with. Sasuke, was still being detained in the hospital, and Kakashi, according to Kurenai, was heading towards the hospital to visit is prized student. Naruto wasn't shocked at their behavior, and found that he didn't even care.

When asked why, Naruto simply told everyone what had happen with him and Sakura at the bridge and how Kakashi had trained him in only tree walking and teamwork exercises, while he had seen Kakashi teach Sasuke several flame jutsu, not to mention his Chidori. He taught Sakura to detect and dispel and cast Genjutsu's. Naruto also showed them the scars that Sasuke's Chidori gave him. It was a miracle that Naruto was still alive. Asuma and Kurenai were of course disgusted at Kakashi's blatant favouritism and their respect for the copy-cat ninja plummeted. Gai couldn't even explain how ashamed he was of his rival.

When everyone was gone Naruto gazed out the window. He knew the ANBU were there, watching him. He was not able to see or sense them, but he knew they were there. As he gazed he could not help but think about his life in Konoha. He had a few good memories, but honestly, all the others were bad. It was then Naruto realized he needed to know something, and if he was going to leave Konoha tomorrow forever then he might as well find out tonight.

He was going to find out about his parents. It had been something Naruto had wanted to know all his life. When he asked the Sandaime, the old man told him he had no idea. However, Naruto just knew that the old man was lying.

He had also asked Tsunade and Jiraiya, but they said they didn't know either. Again, he knew they were lying to him. The pervert may have been a convincing liar, but Tsunade was as good at lying as she was at gambling, and if she knew who his parents were, then so did the pervert.

Naruto took out his life size paper-mache doll of himself (one he had made several years ago when he was younger so that if anyone tried to sneak in to his apartment when he was sleeping, to attack him, he would replace himself with it), and snuck out a secret hatch that he had made under his bed so that he could make a quick escape from apartment without anyone noticing.

After he was out, he stealthily headed for the Hokage tower. They might have sealed up his chakra but he was still an expert at infiltration and stealth. After all, how else does a kid wearing bright orange, sneak into the Hokage's tower and steal a scroll of forbidden jutsu?

-Two hours later in the Hokage Tower-

For the past hour Naruto had been looking through the Hokage office searching for information about his parents. He had finally found a hidden compartment in the Hokage's desk. Naruto then spent the next half hour trying to pick the combination lock on the drawer. Eventually he cracked the code (the date Konoha was founded). In the compartment were several scrolls and documents.

When Naruto finished reading the document concerning his parents, he was so pissed he literally had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from screaming in rage.

"They lied to me...! Ero-sennin, Baa-chan and the old man… they all lied, right to my face. I'm the son of the fucking Yondaime Hokage and they lied to me and stopped me from getting what was rightfully mine!" Naruto furiously thought.

He had seen the bank accounts in the documents. They showed that his family was among the three wealthiest families in Konoha, wealthier that those bastards Asai and Amako combined. Not counting the money that he got from his mother who was the heiress of the fucking Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure (Hidden among the Whirling Tides), which had collapsed right after the Second Great Shinobi War. The two family fortunes combined made him on equal standing in wealth with Gato (had he been still alive), making Naruto one of the wealthiest people in the whole goddamn Elemental continent.

Naruto was absolutely livid. He had to scrimp and save every day of his life with the little amount of social welfare from the village, and all this time he had a fortune that was rightfully his. The village kept his inheritance from him! They even had the audacity to deny him the knowledge of his family, his family name. And to add insult to injury, they dumped him in some crappy apartment when he had a large estate behind the village.

But the things that pissed him off most were one, his own father had been the one to put the Kyuubi into him and give him a miserable life. And two, that damn pervert Jiraiya was his fucking godfather and was supposed to take care of him or at the least look out for him, which he didn't.

Naruto then decided to open a scroll where he found a letter from his father the Yondaime. And from the way it was written with messy handwriting you could tell, this letter was written quickly, right before he sealed the Kyuubi into him.

Dear Naruto,

If you are reading this, then Sarutobi has deemed you ready to know the truth. You are my son, the son of the Yondaime Hokage.

As I write this letter, the battle against the Kyuubi is raging on so I don't have much time to write. I know I will not return alive from this fight. Your mother's name was Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina my wife who sadly died giving birth to you, due to a complication that happened.

Know that both your mother and I loved you from the moment you came into this world and my only regret is that your mother and I will not be there to watch you grow up. Both of us leave you everything we own in this world.

You also must know by now that I sealed the Kyuubi into you. Hopefully the village will have listened to my last wish and treated you as the hero that you are and that you've had a good life so far. But if my worst fear has come true and the villagers did not follow my wishes, and treated you like an outcast, then I'm truly sorry my son for any pain that you went through. I hope you can understand that I picked you to be the container of the Kyuubi for I could not go to another family and ask them to make such a sacrifice.

The other reason why I made you the container of the Kyuubi was in the hope that you would use the power of the Kyuubi to become the Guardian protector of the village, maybe even come to love it as much as I did, and also protect it from forces like the Uchiha Madara, one of the founders of Konoha. He is the one who fought against the Shodaime Hokage long ago and had the power to summon and control the Kyuubi. He is the one who summoned Kyuubi here to Konoha.

My time is now up; know that if you hate me for what I did to you my son, I do not blame you. But know that I do love you and will never stop loving you. I wish you a long and happy life.

Sincerely, your father

Namikaze Minato

"Well Father it seems that the village let you down. They treated me worse than any outcast. They treated me like the plague and I had to pay the price for your idealism and inability to face reality." Naruto muttered angrily.

He placed his father's letter down and opened up the other scroll. There was a another letter from his mother. After he finished reading the letter he had small tears falling from his eyes.

"I swear mother I will not let you down, I will make you proud and I will restore our family's legacy."Naruto swore.

Naruto quickly resealed the letters in the scrolls and everything back in the compartment, since these were just copies, according to his mother's letter. The originals were at his family estate, not to mention several other important scrolls his mother had told him about.

-Twenty minutes later at the Namikaze Estate-

When Naruto arrived at the estate he could not believe that he owned this place. It was an enormous mansion four stories high with wide open gardens, and it looked like it could easily house up to two hundred people.

"I own all this and yet Konoha places me in a one roomed run down, cockroach infested shithole." Naruto thought bitterly.

Naruto quickly cut his finger kunai and spread his blood on the seal of the gate to open it. When the gate opened he walked into the courtyard and entered the estate. He came to a huge hallway and swiftly searched for the library and the desk his mother mentioned. He soon found a locked door with another seal on it. After spreading more blood he found a massive room filled with scrolls of different things but he did not spend long looking at them.

He promptly went to the desk and opened up one of the drawers where he then spread more blood on a seal and a secret compartment revealed itself. He found the eight scrolls mentioned in the letter. After retrieving the scrolls, Naruto decided to take at least a few more scrolls that may be useful to him later on. He took several on taijutsu, a few on kenjutsu and sealing since he figured if he was unable to use chakra, he should probably find another way to defend himself.

After grabbing the scrolls Naruto resealed the library door and resealed the main gate, so no one can access the estate until he returned, and he vowed he would reclaim what is rightfully his no matter what.

-Back at Naruto's Apartment-

It did not take long for Naruto to sneak back into his apartment. He decided to leave now instead of giving those bastards in the Council the pleasure of throwing him out themselves.

He grabbed his backpack as well as a few other things but before he went through the hatch door, he wrote a quick message on a piece of paper and left it on his kitchen table for anyone to find it.

Had Naruto stayed two minutes longer he would have met a late night visitor.

-In the Hyuga compound forty minutes ago-

Currently the young Hyuga heiress Hyuga Hinata was crying her heart out over what happened. In the past three days she learned that her crush Naruto had been banished by the Council because they believed him to be a threat for some 'unknown' reason. And the worst thing was that her own father had been the deciding vote to send Naruto off.

When her father told her this, she couldn't believe it. The only explanation he gave her was, "Naruto is threat to the village's safety and she will soon learn the truth". He also stated that it would be best to forget about him and focus on her Jūken and becoming Clan head, least she wish to become a Branch member.

To be honest Hinata didn't care about being Clan head or becoming a Branch member. All she wanted was for Naruto to be allowed to stay in the village. It hurt her even more that her father forbade her from saying goodbye. Earlier she had asked Kurenai-sensei to give him the bento she made for him. When Hinata sobs dissolved, she looked outside into the night sky, she knew what to do.

"No more crying. I have to be strong! If this village is going to force Naruto-kun out I'm not going to let him go until I tell him how I feel about him. This is maybe the last chance I have" thought Hinata.

Silently, Hinata sneaked out of the compound and headed towards Naruto's apartment.

- Naruto's Apartment-

When Hinata arrived she knocked on the door and waited for a few minutes. When she received no answer she knocked several times more .When she still got no answer she activated her Byakugan to see if he was in. When she saw Naruto sleeping in his bed, she was about to deactivate her Byakugan and knock again, but then she realized that the Naruto in bed had no chakra pathways. She franticly broke down the door fearing the worst. When she reached Naruto in bed she found it was just a doll made out of paper mache. Hinata started to look around for any trace of him and found the note that Naruto left. When she read it she collapsed to the ground and started to cry again.

- 'Sake All Night' Sake Bar twenty minutes earlier-

Sitting by herself in the corner of the sake bar was Tsunade, surrounded by at least fifteen empty sake bottles. She had been here for at least five hours drinking her sorrow away over the banishment of her surrogate little brother.

"Bartender another bottle of sake," slurred Tsunade.

The bartender was about to get her another bottle when someone else spoke up.

"No. She's had enough, so don't bother." said the person.

When Tsunade turned to see who had kept her from having another drink she frowned.

"What do you want now Shizune? Can't you let me drown out my sorrows?" cried Tsunade.

"No. We've been through this with Uncle Dan and your brother for far too long. I won't let you start again with Naruto" answered Shizune.

She then went over to Tsunade and lifted her out of the chair. She carried her out to the night and started walking down the street.

As they walked Shizune said, "Come on, a bit of walking in the night air will clear your head a bit so that you can see how selfish you're being".

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" Tsunade irritated at her apprentice.

At this Shizune then did the unimaginable. She slapped Tsunade across the face with all the strength she could muster. The loud smacking sound that could be clearly heard in the empty street.

When Tsunade turned her head back to face Shizune, she put her hand to her reddened cheek. A look of complete shock covered her face. She never expected Shizune to do something like this. Before Tsunade could come to her senses Shizune started to speak.

"Look at you, leader of the strongest military power in the elemental nations, and you're here? Drinking your pain and feeling sorry for yourself. You did everything you could to put a stop to Naruto's banishment, and yet you have not even once gone see him. You know in the morning he will be leaving the village for good. Have you even thought about how Naruto might feel right now, after everything that he has gone through? He stayed, growing up in this village with all the abuse and hardship, just so that he could one day become a ninja and then accomplish his dream of becoming Hokage. All of which has now been stolen from him. He's being kicked out of the only home he's ever known, and once he leaves he will be hunted by the Akatsuki, who will not stop until they extract the Kyuubi from him and kill him. So stop being so selfish and start thinking about someone else for a change! Naruto right now is alone and is hurting, and he needs all the people he cares about around him to help him through this. Now are you going to go to him or are you going back to that bar again and try and drink you problems away again?" Shizune ranted.

Tsunade just stood there still holding her red cheek. She could not move after letting Shizune rant. After a minute or two she collapsed on the ground and started to cry. Shizune's words had finally sunken in and had hurt more than a punch in the gut or a kunai stab ever could.

"I-I-I…..It just that I'm s-s-so tired of t-t-the village t-t-t-taking so m-m-many of the people I care about from me! First my Grandfather, t-t-t…then my Uncle, my b-b-brother, then Dan-kun and then Sarutobi-s-s-sensei and now Naruto! Why does this village keep taking away the people I care most about?" sobbed Tsunade.

Shizune helped her sensei up and said, "Now let's go to Naruto. I'm sure he could do with someone coming to talk to him and be with him right now".

Tsunade just nodded her head in agreement and once she was on her feet the two of them headed for Naruto's apartment.

As they walked Tsunade suddenly said, "Thanks Shizune I needed someone to smack some sense into me".

"Anytime Tsunade-sama… I did enjoy smacking you though." said Shizune with a smirk.

"I bet you did after all the trouble I caused you over the years. I'm glad that you are still with me." replied Tsunade with a small smile.

"Always Tsunade-sama, always." said Shizune with her own smile.

- Naruto's Apartment-

When they reached the apartment they saw that the door had been broken and heard someone crying.They rushed in and turned on the lights, and saw Hinata on the floor next to the small kitchen table bawling her eyes out. They also saw the life like paper-mache Naruto on the floor next to Naruto's bed.

Tsunade quickly went on her knees and went to the crying young girl.

"Hinata what's wrong? Where's Naruto?" asked a worried Tsunade.

But Hinata just grabbed onto Tsunade's robe and put her head into her chest and cry harder.

Tsunade tried to calm the girl until she noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the floor that Hinata must have been holding. When she picked it up and read it, Tsunade's own eyes started to tear up and she too started to cry, holding onto Hinata for her comfort.

Shizune went over to the two weeping women and picked up the piece of paper that Tsunade had dropped.

"Oh Naruto" she thought sadly about the poor boy that she viewed as a younger brother. She felt like crying with Hinata and Tsunade, but she knew she could do that later. Now was not the time.

Suddenly the ANBU squad that had been assigned to watch over Naruto appeared.

The squad had seen the young girl come to the Uzumaki apartment and knock on the apartment door. They knew that the young girl had feelings for the boy. All the different ANBU squads had seen the girl spy on Naruto at one point or other. It became a common joke about how the boy was so blind to the girl's feelings towards him and how the girl would faint whenever she tried to talk to him. Hell, some even had betting pool running, as to when she would finally pluck up the courage to tell him how she felt or if Naruto would ever notice.

The ANBU division had been informed of Naruto's banishment due to it dealing with the village security, but had been sworn to not inform anyone until Naruto left the village. Like most of the ANBU division the squad disagreed with the Council's decision since they knew he wasn't the Kyuubi, and knew enough about sealing to understand the level of intricacy and skill that was involved in the Yondaime's seal. This same ANBU squad, had kept watch on him long enough to know he was simply a young boy with a hard burden on his shoulders.

When they saw the girl break into Naruto apartment they grew concerned especially when they heard the girl crying a minute later. The squad had been about to go and see what had happen, but when they saw the Hokage and Shizune arrive, they waited. A minute or so after the Hokage and Shizune entered Naruto apartment they heard more crying, or to be more precise the Hokage crying with Hinata. When they heard this, the squad decided to investigate.

"Shizune-san what has happened? Why are the Hokage and Hinata-san crying and where is Uzumaki-san?" asked the leader of the ANBU squad that wore a bear ANBU mask.

Shizune answered, "Naruto is gone."

The ANBU captain could not mask the surprise in his voice, "But how? My squad and I have been watching his apartment the entire time. We never saw him leave, we even checked on him an hour ago when we looked through his window and saw him asleep in his bed".

"You most likely saw that in his bed," answered Shizune, pointing at the life size paper-mache Naruto on the floor.

"Plus, Naruto probably has a secret escape hatch or something in here, just in case, since I'm sure you all know how resourceful he can be." said Shizune.

All four ANBU nodded in agreement.

"Do you wish for us to look for him and try and find him?" asked the ANBU captain.

"Why bother? Naruto is probably long gone by now. He is going to be banished tomorrow anyway. Why not let him get a head start? Even if you bring him back, the Council is just going to make a spectacle of him tomorrow in front of the village and I for one do not want to see that" said Shizune.

The ANBU nodded, not wanting to see something like that either.

"You can all go now." Shizune ordered.

The squad said "Hai." and left.

As they did, Shizune could not help but look up to the night sky wondering where Naruto was right now.

"Please be safe Naruto," Shizune thought. Then went over to the two weeping women and tried to comfort them. As she did so she placed the note that Naruto had left back on the kitchen table. There was only one word written on it.

"Goodbye."

- Outside Konoha –

On a hill overlooking the village, a lone figure stood looking down at it for the last time.

"My old life in Konoha is over, and a new one will begin outside it. But just you wait, Konoha! I vow, in the name of my mother Uzumaki Kushina, I'll become strong. I'll become stronger than my father or anyone else has ever been and when I do, you'll be sorry that you ever banished me. That is a promise of a life time. Believe it." thought Naruto before turned his back on the village walk away into the night.

- Some time later –

It had been a while since Naruto left Konoha. He had taken off in a random direction, not really caring where he was going. His had wanted to go to Suna, but that would cause problems for Gaara. He wasn't even sure if he would be welcome there, since he was one of the reasons why the invasion failed. Though Suna had been tricked into it they still suffered a heavy loss and a humiliating defeat. Not to mention he would bring the Akatsuki to their doorsteps. Sure Gaara was a jinchūriki like him, but Gaara could at least defend himself and his village, as it was surrounded by sand.

Naruto on the other hand couldn't use chakra and would only make things harder on Gaara. He didn't want to do that to his friend.

He didn't want to go to Taki or to his friend Shibuki the leader of Taki, and cause trouble for him, since like Suna, Taki's alliance with Konoha would be very important to them.

Naruto had also thought about going to Haru/Yuki no Kuni (Spring/Snow country), since he was sure that Lady Koyuki would welcome him, but he knew that Haru/Yuki no Kuni was very far away and he would definitely not get there by foot. Not only that, he didn't have enough money to get there by ship. He also knew that at some point the Akatsuki would find him there and would attack him, as a result putting Lady Koyuki and her people in danger.

Wave might have been a good choice, or even the Land of Tea, working with the Wagarashi Clan. But Naruto knew that eventually the Akatsuki would find him in either places and he would not put Wave in danger because of him. He also knew that the Wagarashi Clan would stand no chance if they went up against anyone of the Akatsuki.

All things linked up to the same thing. The Akatsuki would at some point find him and hunt him down, hurting the people he cared about in the process.

He thought about going to another ninja village that had no alliance or real link or connection to Konoha that could maybe get these seals off him and maybe even protect him in some way if he agreed to be one of their ninja's. But he realized that even if he found a village that could help him and allow him to join, the choices weren't that great. Ame, Kusa and Hoshi were small villages and not very strong.

He knew he needed to be with one of the five great Shinobi villages to stand a chance of surviving an attack from the Akatsuki. Kiri was out of the question since he had heard when he met Haku that they were in the middle of a Civil War. Plus after he heard how people with bloodlines were treated there, he wanted no part of that. Iwa was also out of the question since the moment they looked at him or found out where he was from or even worse found out who his parents were, he would be killed on the spot

The final choice was Kumo, but Naruto didn't want to go there, since he didn't know much about the village, other than what Neji had told him about how they attempted to kidnap Hinata. He also heard that Kumo tried to kidnap her again during the Suna and Oto invasion, which was prevented by Neji and his team. Needless to say, Naruto did not have a very high opinion of that village. This left him only one choice, to wander around on his own trying to find a way to get these seals off him himself and keep on training with the scrolls he had took from his family home.

Naruto was in a dense forest in the middle of a heavy rainstorm trying to find some shelter. He was unsure of where exactly though. He had run out of food several days ago. He had tried hunting but had no luck. He didn't go to town, for fear of being spotted or recognized from any chance meetings with Akatsuki, or their agents.

"So this is how it's all going to end. Not the way I had wanted, but it could be worse." Naruto thought sadly as he was about to drift into unconsciousness. Until he forced himself to wake up "No! I still have my goal to accomplish! I can't give up. I won't give up!" Naruto thought as he tried to get up but fell back on the ground.

As he was drifting in and out of unconsciousness he heard the chiming of small bells. When he glanced up, he saw two figures strolling towards him. Even though it was dark he could make out two very important facts. Both of them were wearing conical straw hats with small spike-like balls hanging down to cover their faces and both were wearing dark cloaks, with chin-high collars that covered their faces.

One word popped into his mind as he fell into unconsciousness.

"Akatsuki...!"

… They had found him.

A/N

Well that's the end of my first chapter for my first story. Please tell me want you think of it good or bad.

Please review. I like to hear what you think. I don't mind too much. I even welcome some helpful criticism for this story. Also I should say any flames will be ignored. If you have nothing but bad things to say about my story then please kept them to yourself and stop reading then since I never forced you to read my story.

I have been tinkering with this story for a year or two and just so you know there will be one or two things that will not follow the manga since the things that I planned were done before certain things came to the manga and can't be changed for the story.

Please read and review this story I will try and have the next update as soon as I can.

Also just to get this nit bit out of the way I do not own Naruto what so ever or any of the characters from it if I did I would've had Naruto kill Pein in a big battle in a blaze of glory and have Naruto kill Sasuke, the bastard is a traitor pure and simple. as I'm getting really sick of Naruto and the other trying to save Sasuke, he's clearly does not want to be saved and wants to destroy Konoha so they should just kill him already so to stop the trouble he causing and be finally rid of him.

Editor's Corner/ Beta-reader comments

Yo guys! lilmama567890 here. I've taken up the reigns as Aragon's editor-come-beta-reader. This guy has a monstrously awesome plot, and of course, everyone knows that smooth grammar and proper sentence flow are both key ingredients when writing a story of any type.

This chapter has been edited as of September 6th, 2011, and I'll be starting on the next several chapters in a timely manner.

Keep smiling, read, enjoy, and keep the reviews up!

Cheers,

lilmama :)

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.